The UFCW, along with leading labor and civil rights specialists held the first in a series of nationwide hearings in Washington, D.C. on Monday to examine the enforcement tactics used by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE):
At the gathering at the Hay-Adams hotel in the District, witnesses and members of the 10-person panel accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of using arrest warrants for a limited number of illegal immigrants who work at a given company as a pretext to detain the entire workforce, including many U.S. citizens, while agents determine whether there are additional illegal immigrants among them.
"Tens of millions of workers in America go to work every day without . . . an awareness that at their workplaces, without any warning, they could be swept up in a massive raid conducted by heavily armed government agents," said Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and chairman of the National Commission on ICE Misconduct and Violations of 4th Amendment Rights. "Workers are not aware that they could be detained at gunpoint. That they could be handcuffed. . . . That they could be denied any contact with family members or legal counsel."
The commission heard testimony from two workers who are U.S. citizens who said they were detained for several hours during an ICE raid of six Swift meatpacking plants in December 2006. The union has filed a class action on their behalf.
Stemming from the workplace raids at meatpacking plants carried out by federal ICE agents in which thousands of innocent workers were detained in 2006, the new national Commission – headed by UFCW International President Joe Hansen – will investigate claims of unconstitutional workplace enforcement actions in a series of regional hearings and look into claims that ICE has engaged in violations of the 4th Amendment.
Following the hearings, the Commission will produce a public report highlighting its findings and offer recommendations to ensure workers and their rights are protected.
In the meantime -- want to hear the workers whose rights were violated by ICE tell their stories? Here's a video where they share what it was like to find themselves on the wrong side of ICE:
Embed this video in your own site or blog! Just use this handy embedding code:
Comments (3)
Comments posted to CtW Connect are the sole property of the individual posting them, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Change to Win, its affiliated unions, or its leadership.
Your article stated: "Stemming from the workplace raids at meatpacking plants carried out by federal ICE agents in which thousands of innocent workers were detained in 2006, the new national Commission – headed by UFCW International President Joe Hansen – will investigate claims of unconstitutional workplace enforcement actions in a series of regional hearings and look into claims that ICE has engaged in violations of the 4th Amendment".
Well, I wish that the IRS Criminal Division would visit these damned companies and every other industry that benefits from income tax evasion, filing false income tax filings. Not to mention using this illegal work force. I suggest the CEO's all read 8 United States Code 1324 which deals with Alien Harboring. Shame on them all
Posted by Nick on February 27, 2008 at 5:47 PM
Posted on February 27, 2008 at 5:47 PM
The problem is not that ICE is investigating violations of immigration law. The problem is that US Citizens are arrested, because a detention of this kind is an arrest, and held until the "mess" is cleaned up. Imagine, ICE may as well confine everyone to house arrest until they can go door to door and figure things out. Our Constitution protects us against these kind of government actions. We cannot punish everyone for what a few do.
Posted by Chuck on February 28, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Posted on February 28, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Clearly, UFCW's lawsuit and hearings are meant to expose injustice and abuse by the government. We as union members need to loudly resist abuse of any worker, regardless of immigration status, because as we can see from these blanket raids, the feds and big business will simply work together to divide us at the slightest opportunity.
Language can also be used to divide and weaken unions, so we at ILCA urge everyone to avoid using or reprinting language from any source that talks about human beings as being somehow "illegal." That's a pejorative term that has wormed its way into common usage and implies that a person has committed some crime, which in most cases is false. We know that many workers, propelled across borders by economic pressure, end up working jobs under expired visas or lack papers altogether; a more accurate term for this group would be "undocumented workers." I'd suggest your readers go to PAI's 2/29/08 article on the ICE raids for additional information from a labor-friendly perspective.
For those interested, ILCA has also adopted a resolution on the use of this pro-worker language regarding immigrant workers.
Posted by ILCAMedia on March 4, 2008 at 10:28 AM
Posted on March 4, 2008 at 10:28 AM